Two skiers have been caught by an avalanche in the Hohneck couloirs in the Vosges at around 13h today.

With the first sunny day after a period of unsettled weather that had brought close to a meter of snow in some areas of the French Northern Alps the authorities feared the worst.

The body of an Italian ski instructor, resident of Brides les Bains and missing since Wednesday has been found at 2200 meters altitude in the Vizelle sector of Courchevel under a meter of snow.

Although the storm has brought less snow than forecast (10-30cm depending on mountain range) the storm force southerly winds have created new snow slabs on north facing slopes.

A ski tourer has been killed by an avalanche in the Hautes-Alpes near to the col du Lauteret.

There have been a considerable number of avalanches over the weekend but also a lot of activity in the mountains following the French lock-down.

Anyone who watches the webcams this autumn will have seen that there has been a slab avalanche above the pistes at Tignes on the Grand Motte glacier.

An 19 year old hiker had a lucky escape in the Alpstein mountains near Seealp in Switzerland on Sunday afternoon.

A skier has been killed and another injured in the Couloir Gervasutti on the East Face of the Mont Blanc du Tacul today. The incident occurred around 12h45. The couloir is extremely steep.

It seems that warnings and injunctions against venturing into the mountains have fallen on deaf ears in some quarters.